Queen of the Hive
by shadow282
Summary: Collection of short, one-shot Bumbleby stories, often with a side of White Rose. Expect lots of fluff.
1. Giving Notice

**These are all going to be short, simple Bumbleby stories. I wanted a single place to put together any of the random story ideas I had. Essentially just a place for a lot of fluff. There won't be any real connectivity between the chapters except the fact that, unless otherwise stated, they're all set at Beacon before Volume 3.**

* * *

 **Giving Notice**

Blake considered her options. She could kill her, obviously. Maybe not in a straight fight, but they did sleep in the same room every night. It wouldn't be that difficult. Not that she wanted to do it. Blake would miss her terribly, and the guilt would likely consume her. She put that aside as a problematic yet effective solution and kept thinking.

She could always run away in the night. However, it would cost her all of her friends, which wasn't exactly ideal. And, realistically, all it would do would be delay the inevitable. Yang Xiao Long was a skilled and determined woman, and Blake had no doubt she would eventually track her down. Putting her back at square one.

She could just go confront Yang, walk straight up to her and have an honest discussion about it. Blake felt panic rising in her at the very thought of it and dismissed it out of hand. There was no way she could ever manage to have _that_ discussion with her.

All of which left her with only one realistic option: ignore the issue entirely. Completely pretend it never happened and change the subject if Yang ever mentioned it. Blake nodded to herself, satisfied. It wasn't really a great solution, but it was all she could do. She would just have to make it work.

First, though, she would need to find the extent of the damage. She looked back down at the bed and grabbed the cursed object off her pillow. She knew the title said _Ninjas of Love_ , but she couldn't see the front under the big yellow paper taped on reading "Great read Blakey! Can't wait to try some of these out!" She quickly ripped the page off the cover, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it in the trash. She then took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself, and started going through the new marks on the book.

She felt her embarrassment shoot up as she continued reading. Yang had managed to find and highlight all of the dirtiest scenes and had taken notes in the margins by all of them.

 _"Do you think you're flexible enough for this?", "I bet Gambol Shroud could work for that!", "I don't know where we would even find one of those.", "We're definitely trying this one soon.", "Can't wait to see you in that", "I don't think that could even fit in there!", "Do you think Pyrrha would let us borrow hers?"_

It went on and on and on. Eventually she couldn't take anymore; she threw the book to the side and put her head in her hands. How could she possibly look Yang in the eye after this?

/

Yang walked up behind her partner as she was eating lunch. She put her hand around Blake's shoulder and sat down right next to her, using her arm to pull them close together. It was the same way she always sat down when Blake was already eating. Usually, Blake just ignored it or rolled her eyes in annoyance. This time, she jumped almost halfway to the other end of the table. "Hey Yang." She stammered out.

Yang had never heard Blake stammer before. Never. Suddenly worried, she immediately reached out her hand towards Blake. "Sweetie, are you okay? What's wrong?"

When she saw Yang's hand, Blake backed away and shot up. "Nothing, nothing is wrong. I remembered I need to go study. See you later." With that, she turned and almost sprinted out of the room. Yang leapt up and ran after her, calling her name to try and get her to stop.

/

"Ruby Rose, you are an evil, devious woman." Weiss said as they both watched their teammates run out of the cafeteria. Ruby looked up at her and gave her a wide, innocent smile.

"Whatever do you mean, Weiss? I didn't have anything to do with that."

"Sure you didn't. How did you fake Yang's handwriting?"

"She is my sister, it wasn't that hard to do."

"And you don't feel bad at all about messing with them like this?"

"Nope, it'll be good for their relationship. Blake needs to be willing to be more open with Yang if it's going to work out. Trust me, they'll be thanking me later." Ruby then gave a sly little smile. "Plus, who knows. Maybe trying some of that stuff out will be a fun bonding experience for them."

Weiss glared at her. "Seriously, Ruby? Your sister is bad enough, I'm not dealing with two of you on the team." Ruby just laughed.

"Fine, I'll stop. We have more important things to talk about anyway." Ruby suddenly had a wicked glint in her eyes and, reaching below her, she pulled out a stack of notes. A rather large stack. "Since I was already reading it, I decided to take some notes for myself of the fun ones. Here's where I'm thinking we'll start..."

* * *

 **And there we go, with a little White Rose thrown in at the end. I hope you enjoyed it.**

 **As for new chapters, I'm not going to commit to any real schedule. I'll post new ones whenever I come up with an idea I like. Which will probably mean sometimes weekly chapters and sometimes monthly or longer.**

 **If you did enjoy it, check out my similar White Rose collection "Snow Petals". Essentially the opposite of this, White Rose focused with a side of Bumbleby.**


	2. Caught in the Moment

**Caught in the Moment**

Ruby walked back to her room, whistling happily. Yesterday had been a great day. She had gotten to spend the whole day in Vale with Weiss, and Blake and Yang had been able to get some quality alone time. When she walked into the room, however, her good mood suddenly faded. "Seriously guys, again?" Blake and Yang were cuddled together on Weiss' bed. Not that they had much choice; both of their beds were a pile of scorched broken wood and ash. "How do you let this keep happening"

Blake at least managed to look a little guilty. Yang, however, laid there with a satisfied smirk on her face. "Well, Blake was laying on the bed, and I was moving down to-"

"PG version, Yang!" Ruby quickly cut her off with a yell.

Yang just laughed. "Okay, Blake is a hair-puller." Ruby turned to glare at Blake.

"What? I get caught up in the moment."

Ruby just sighed. "Fine, but I'm not dealing with this again. Go tell Glynda and get it fixed before Weiss comes back, or she'll be yelling at you both for a week. You might want to think of a better excuse though, somehow I doubt "brushing accident" is going to fly for a third time."

"That's okay. This time we'll just tell her what really happened. The not PG version." Blake looked at her partner, horrified, causing Yang to let out a shameless laugh. "Come on kitten, you know I'm kidding. Let's go, we can think of something on the way." The two of them got up and left, quietly arguing about the best excuse as they walked.

Ruby sighed and stood staring at the damage. As much as she tried, she couldn't really get that upset with them. She had woken up too many times with ice covering the floor to be able to throw stones.

She was a hair-puller, too.


	3. Yang Hates Fish

**Yang Hates Fish**

"Okay, so after the movie I'm thinking we just get dinner in Vale. How about that restaurant down by the pier?" Blake asked.

Yang's heart dropped, but she forced a smile onto her face. "Sounds great."

"Okay, I'll go call in the reservation." Blake said as she pulled her scroll out of her pocket and walked out the door. Yang waited until the door slammed closed to drop the smile.

"You need to tell her, Yang." Ruby said from her bed.

"I can't just tell her, Ruby! What am I supposed to say, "Sorry sweetie but we can't go to your absolute favorite restaurant in the world anymore."?"

"Yes! Yang, you hate fish. It's a restaurant that only has fish on the menu. You can't keep that from your girlfriend. Blake will understand."

"Of course she will. She'll insist that we never go there again. And, since it's a restaurant almost exclusively for couples, _she'll_ never go again. I'm not forcing her to give up something she loves, Ruby."

"So you're going to keep lying to her?" Ruby questioned. Her tone made it clear what she thought of that.

"It's a little white lie. People tell white lies all the time. It's not hurting anyone."

"They shouldn't. It's not good for a healthy relationship."

"So, presumably, that means you've told Weiss how much you hate going to the opera?"

Ruby's face flushed red. "That's different!"

"How?"

"Because, um" was all she heard before a trail of petals were falling across the suddenly empty room

"That's what I thought." Yang triumphantly told the empty air. Yang sighed. She knew Ruby was probably right, but she still couldn't bring herself to talk with Blake about it. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad this time.

/

It was that bad this time. The movie had been great, and the company was even better. But they had a special going on tuna, and Blake had been so obviously excited about it that when she had asked Yang if she wanted it too she hadn't been able to refuse. Now she was sitting with a plate full of food she didn't like, taking very small bites and trying to hide as much as possible under her vegetables. She knew all she needed to do was keep pretending to eat until Blake was done. She could then pawn off the rest of it to her.

"The tuna is amazing tonight, don't you think?" Blake said. Yang forced that same smile onto her face.

"Yeah, it's great."

"I love how fresh it tastes. What's your favorite part, Yang?" Blake asked. Her tone was too casual, though, and Yang looked up to see a knowing look in her eyes.

"I can't believe Ruby told you. I'm gonna get that traitor." Yang said, already thinking of ways to get back at her little sister. Blake, however, shook her head and pointed to her bow.

"Faunus, Yang." Yang felt like an idiot. She always forgot about Blake's extra senses. "Why didn't you simply tell me?"

"Because you love this place, and I didn't want to make you give it up."

Blake gave her a stern look. "I like this place, Yang. I love you. Nothing else in the world is more important to me. Fortunately, in this case there's no need to choose." Blake raised her hand to motion the waiter, and he brought over a covered plate of food. When he lifted it, Yang saw the most delicious steak she had ever seen on it.

"How?" She asked softly.

"You'd be surprised what you can get if you just ask." Blake said, the soft rebuke pretty clear in her tone. Yang instantly felt ashamed of herself.

"I'm sorry, kitten. It won't happen again."

Blake's face suddenly broke into a smile. "I know. Don't worry, this isn't the only plan I've made. We're going to make sure tonight is something you'll never forget."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" She challenged. Blake leaned in close and whispered something in her ear. Yang felt her heart rate increase as desire raced through her. They soon finished dinner and got up to go to things that promised to be _much_ more satisfying than any meal.


	4. Ghosts

**Ghosts**

Weiss was cold, her back hurt from hours of leaning against a hard stone wall, and she couldn't stop yawning from two days of barely sleeping. She was, in short, really regretting indulging her partner again. Sure, two weeks of Ruby willingly studying with her would be nice, but was it really worth this? She was becoming less sure every hour. She decided she would try to end this again. "Can we please go back to the dorm? There's nothing here. There's no such thing as ghosts!"

"Of course there is, silly! And I know they'll be here. I can hear the moans at least once every week when I'm coming back from my night training sessions." Weiss sighed. Ruby had grown as a team leader, but she was still incredibly childish in some ways. Like, for instance, thinking that nobody would connect the fact that her "night training sessions" coincidentally happened every night before the cafeteria was missing half its cookies. Weiss knew exactly what was happening. Someone was leaving a window open in this classroom sometimes, and Ruby's sugar induced haze was mistaking the breeze for moans. She could prove it, too, if Ruby hadn't freaked out every time she tried to go in the room. Something about how "The ghosts will get you!" Which is how she came to be stuck on this incredibly stupid stakeout. She tried to ignore her irritation, closed her eyes, and started counting down the remaining time in her head.

Thirty six minutes twenty nine seconds later, Weiss heard a noise that completely shocked her. There were very distinctly moans coming from the classroom across from them, and they were very clearly not coming from the wind. She felt nails digging into her arm as Ruby tightened her grip on her.

"See? I told you they were real!" Ruby whispered.

"Ruby, I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this. Stay here, I'm going to go check it out." Weiss whispered back. Ruby's face turned to panic, and she refused to let go of Weiss' arm. She gently took off Ruby's hands and crept towards the classroom. She felt bad leaving her partner clearly terrified, but solving what was causing the noise would help Ruby more than letting her cling. There had to be a legitimate explanation for it. Ghosts didn't exist.

As she got closer the moans got louder and louder, and even she started to get a little worried. Obviously, ghosts didn't exist. The whole concept was absurd. But if they did exist, which they absolutely didn't, then disturbing them probably wasn't a great idea, right? She was getting very, very close to turning back, simply to be safe, when she heard something under the moans. Her blood ran cold, and she turned and sprinted back to Ruby. "You're right, they're ghosts, we need to leave now." Weiss said breathlessly as she pulled Ruby up and started moving towards the door. Her reaction clearly scared Ruby enough that she was perfectly willing to run away with her, and Weiss didn't stop until they were back to the dorm.

"I knew it! I knew they were ghosts!" Ruby said triumphantly.

"Yes, you were right. And they're probably very dangerous ghosts. Let's avoid the whole area at night, okay?" Ruby nodded, clearly having no desire to go anywhere near that again, and Weiss breathed a sigh of relief. Neither one of them was ready to deal with what was in that room. Because ghosts didn't exist. What she had heard was far more terrifying than any ghost. Something she wasn't sure she would be able to stop picturing for weeks. Four small words, in a very recognizable voice, whispered under a loud moan. "Oh, Blake, don't stop!"


	5. Pumpkin Carving

**Pumpkin Carving**

Blake was reading a book while she ate lunch. The book was quite engrossing, and fish sticks were the special today. It was, all in all, a pleasant meal, which was subsequently ruined when someone dropped a large object on the table next to her. It landed with a loud thump, and she couldn't stop herself from jumping back a little. She looked up to see her grinning girlfriend.

"What was that, Yang?!"

"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to scare you." She said, her tone entirely innocent. Blake glared up at her.

"Ruby can pull off the innocent act. You can't."

Yang laughed. "True but you can't blame a girl for trying."

Blake sighed. Sometimes putting up with her girlfriend was a real challenge. She looked at what Yang dropped and saw it was a rather large pumpkin. "What's with the pumpkin?"

"It's the annual Beacon pumpkin carving contest, and I just entered us."

"And why did you do that?"

"Because Ruby and Weiss entered this morning, and we can't let them win."

"Why not?"

"Because Ruby wins every pumpkin carving contest she enters, and she's insufferable for weeks afterwards. Normally I don't have a chance against her. These hands are meant for punching, not carving." A sly little smile lit up her face, and she raised a suggestive eyebrow. "Amongst other things." Blake couldn't stop a little blush from coming to her face. "But you're artistic too. We actually have a shot this time."

"So what you're saying is that you dropped me in the middle of your sibling rivalry."

"Yep! Comes with the territory, Blakey." She sighed again. Yang seemed to have that effect on her. She was sure she never sighed as much before they started dating.

"Okay, I'll help you finally beat your sister."

"Sweet. You're the best girlfriend ever." Yang reached over and gave her a quick peck on the lips, and Blake was reminded why the increased sighing was worth it.

"Do you have any ideas?"

"Lots of them." Yang pulled out a large stack of notebook paper from her backpack and put it in front of Blake. Blake felt a smile tugging on her face. It was just like Yang to have more notes on beating her sister than she had written for every class this year combined.

Blake started flipping through them. Yang was definitely right that she didn't have much artistic talent, but the sketches were good enough to give her a general idea of what she wanted. It took her almost two dozen pages to find one she both really liked and felt confident she could do well. It was something that only Yang would think of doing, and it would be the perfect thing to finally beat Ruby.

"This one." She pointed at the page as Yang looked over her shoulder.

"Okay. I've got everything we need set up in the room. Let's go."

/

It took most of the rest of the day to finish carving it, but the results were definitely worth the time. Once they finished the pumpkin was hidden under a sheet and put in the corner of her bed to stop Ruby from peeking. It stayed there for the next few days until they finally brought it down to the lunchroom for the contest. Yang stayed to guard it while Blake walked around to size up their competition. There were about a dozen other pumpkins, but Blake was confident that their work would beat all of them.

By the time she returned to Yang, Ruby and Weiss were standing there with their entry. When she saw their pumpkin Blake understood why Ruby always won these contests. It was an excellent likeness of Beacon Tower carved into a pumpkin. Any other year, it would have blown away the competition. This year, it didn't stand a chance.

"Ready to lose again?" Ruby asked her sister.

"Not this time. Blake's work is going to crush yours."

"Sure, sure. Is that why you're hiding it?"

"Nope. We just want to see the look on your face when you first see it." Before Ruby could ask more, the judges approached their table. Professors Goodwitch, Ozpin, and Port started examining Ruby's pumpkin.

"Very impressive Miss Rose." Ozpin said.

"Thanks!"

"Now how about yours, Miss Belladonna?" Professor Goodwitch asked. Blake reached over and pulled the sheet off their masterpiece. She gave them all a second to look at the front, a perfect carving of Crescent Rose, before twisting it around to show them the back with Myrtenaster's outline. As the judges examined it, Blake saw the annoyed look on Ruby's face and decided that even if they lost, that was worth all the effort.

Ruby waited for the judges to walk away before complaining. "Seriously? That's what you went with?"

"You should be flattered, Rubes. The designs were so cool we couldn't pass them up."

"You're the worst! And we're still going to win anyway."

/

That evening, Blake and Yang were lying on the bed together, their trophy from the contest sitting beside them. Once the decision came down, Ruby was a surprisingly gracious loser, content with second place, and Yang managed to only tease her sister a little. All in all, a successful competition for team RWBY.

"You're the perfect girlfriend, Blakey."

"Obviously. You're not too shabby yourself." Yang rolled over and was suddenly on top of her.

"Just that? Why don't we do one of the things my hands are _very_ good at and see if we can upgrade my status." Any response from Blake was cut off by a kiss, and Blake closed her eyes and surrendered to the pleasure of the woman she loved.


	6. Shampoo Sabotage

**Shampoo Sabotage**

Yang almost jumped out of her skin as she felt someone come up behind her and grab her hair. She quickly turned around, already starting to grow angry, before she realized it was Blake. "Blake, what are you doing?!" Blake's only reply was to thrust her head into Yang's hair and inhale deeply. Yang pushed her away, growing alarmed at her partner's completely abnormal behavior, but Blake came back and tackled her onto the bed. She snuggled up as close to her as was possible.

"Don't. You smell so nice." Blake purred as she lay on top of her. As soon as she realized how close they were, Yang felt something rush through her body. She had wanted to get Blake like this for months, but she also wasn't entirely sure what happened. She looked around the room for help, but simply saw Ruby staring at them in confusion. Weiss, however, had a smug expression on her face that screamed that she had done something.

"Weiss, what did you do?" Yang yelled. Or, at least, tried to yell. It came out a little muffled under Blake.

"Nothing! Now come on Ruby, clearly these two want to be alone for the night. We'll go stay over at JNPR's room." With that, Weiss grabbed Ruby's hand and practically dragged her out of the room.

 _Well this is just great._ Yang thought. She may have wanted this, but Weiss must have done something to make Blake act so unlike herself. She decided all she could do was ask Blake again. "Hey Blake, what's up with you?"

Blake still had her face buried in blonde hair, but she managed to turn and get out "Catnip, smells incredible." before returning her head. The words made Yang realize exactly what the heiress had done. She must have put catnip in her shampoo. Yang was going to kill her, as soon as she extracted herself from Blake. Which, she realized, was going to be incredibly difficult. At least, without shoving her off and potentially hurting her.

Plus, it wasn't exactly an unpleasant experience. She didn't mind being this close to her partner, and clearly Blake was enjoying herself. Maybe it would be fine to let it wear off on its own before she murdered Weiss. Blake had stopped moving and was just lying there purring, so Yang closed her eyes and fell asleep.

She woke up later, and Blake had finally stopped purring. She shook Blake's shoulder until the girl woke up. "Hey, are you feeling better now?" Yang asked her.

"Yeah, it seems to be wearing off. Look, I'm really sorry about that."

"It's fine, it wasn't your fault. Are you able to get up now?"

"Yeah, I could, if you want me to get up. But I don't." It took a second for Blake's meaning to get through to Yang, but when it did it stopped her in her tracks. She _didn't_ want Blake to get up, if she had a choice, but there was one thing she needed to check first.

"Are you sure that's not the catnip?" She asked. She desperately hoped Blake would answer no.

"Nope, it wore off. Can't you tell?" She was right, Blake was acting completely normally again. And she hadn't come near Yang's hair once since she awoke. "Plus, catnip wouldn't make me do this." Blake said as she leaned down and pulled Yang into a passionate kiss. Yang felt fire race through her again as the kiss went on and on. She could feel the passion coming off Blake, and Yang knew her actions were completely her own. She knew Blake shared the feelings she had inside her. And she couldn't imagine ever feeling happier than she did at this moment.

/

"I can't believe you did that!" Ruby said to her partner.

"Why? It's clear they like each other, they've been dancing around it for months. Someone needed to do something, or they never would have admitted it." Weiss replied.

"Still, you essentially drugged Blake. Isn't that way too manipulative?"

"Not really, I tested it out first. There's been a thing of catnip under Yang's pillow for a few weeks, and Blake hasn't touched it."

"Oh, _that's_ why I kept finding her staring at Yang's bed." Ruby said as realization dawned on her.

"Yep, but she has been able to leave it alone. Clearly, she can control herself if she really wanted to. And if it bothered Yang so much, she could have just left the room."

Ruby had to concede she had a point. "Fine, I take it back. It's an appropriate level of manipulative."

"Thank you. And it worked, didn't it? They'll probably come thank me later."

"Woah, let's not go too far. You should wait to feel smug until Yang takes her revenge on you."

"What do you mean?"

"You pulled a trick on her, and Yang _always_ retaliates. We need to start preparing you for what's coming..."

/

On the other end of the hall, Blake sat eating quietly with Velvet. To anyone watching them, it would look like they were sitting in companionable silence.

Well, any human watching them. A Faunus would instantly know what they were doing. They were listening. "She does know you're not actually a cat, right?" Velvet finally broke the silence as they heard the conversation turn to trying to protect Weiss from Yang's inevitable retribution.

"Sometimes I wonder." Blake replied. "Still, it's not her fault she had certain gaps in her education. She's trying to learn, but she has a long way to go."

"You don't even like catnip!"

"Of course not, it smells terrible. Still, it gave me an opportunity to get close to her with an excuse in case she turned me down, which I appreciate. And it was better as soon as she got out of the shower."

"Well, I guess it's fine if you're okay with it."

"Yep. Plus, now I can feel free to work to get Weiss to admit her feelings for Ruby."

"Good, it's about time those two got together. They're almost as bad as you guys were." Velvet said. Blake gave her a half-hearted glare before dropping it. She was in too good a mood to be able to even pretend to be upset. "Do you have any ideas?" Blake's only reply was an ominous laugh.


	7. Opposite Day

**Opposite Day**

Blake smacked her alarm as it started blaring in her ear and, like every morning, seriously debated just rolling over and going back to sleep. She might have done it if she was alone, but she rolled off the bed and got up because she knew Ruby would never let her sleep anyway. She started to walk to the bathroom before a thought forced its way through her exhausted brain. Today was the day, and she almost lost it before it even began. She turned back to see her sleeping partner but stopped herself from waking Yang immediately. If she played this right, she could win before they left the room.

"Time to get up, Yangy. Why don't you get your gorgeous body over here and give me a kiss?" Yang stirred from her sleep and gave a bleary-eyed smile at her. She clearly wasn't thinking yet, and Blake's anticipation rose as she hopped off the bed and started walking over. Yang got right up next to her before stopping short and grinning at her, and Blake's hope of winning early came crashing down.

"Good morning." Yang said. Traces of affection were in her voice, but they were mostly buried under a tired boredom. She pushed Blake aside and shuffled off to the bathroom.

"What was that?" Ruby asked from her bed. Blake looked over to see both her and Weiss staring at her in complete confusion.

"Yang bet me at dinner last night that she could be a better me than I could be her. So we decided to act like each other for the day and see who is better."

"That's childish." Weiss said at once.

"That's adorable." Ruby squealed right on the heels of her partner. She leaned over the side of the bed and looked hopefully at Weiss.

"Maybe we could try-" Ruby began before noticing the expression on Weiss' face and wisely stopping herself. Blake took one look at the sheer disappointment on Ruby's face and burst out laughing. She kept going until a disgruntled Yang came through the bathroom door.

"No joy this early. I'm not a morning person so you're not allowed to be happy. Grumble grumble grumble." Yang said. Blake glared at her.

"Blake isn't like that, Yang. That's minus one point for you." Ruby said. Blake gave her a questioning look.

"There's points?"

"Of course! The contest needs to be judged by something, so we'll need to use Ruby Points." Blake was about to ask what exactly "Ruby Points" were but a quick shake of the head from Yang stopped her. The sisters had a complex jargon from growing up together, and Blake trusted her girlfriend to decide what was worth an explanation versus what was easier to just accept and keep moving. She walked past Yang to get ready herself, and they all finished up quickly.

As soon as they were all ready, they walked to breakfast, grabbed some food, and went to sit down. Yang sat down first, but Blake hesitated before she joined her. She knew what she needed to do now. She needed to sit down, put her arm around Yang, give her a kiss on the cheek, and start eating. It was what Yang did every single morning. But, as much as she tried, she couldn't make herself do it. Acting affectionate like Yang in front of her team was one thing, but it was much harder to do it in public. Sure, nobody seemed to care now, but what if they all looked over as soon as she tried something? Blake stood there frozen, and she might have waited forever if Yang hadn't turned to look up at her and given her a reassuring smile. Blake took the sudden courage from that small act and used it to sit down and give Yang a kiss. To her it felt incredibly awkward, but nobody else seemed to notice. She had known intellectually that nobody would care but seeing proof of it still made her feel better. She smiled back at Yang and quickly started eating.

Once they finished, they walked to class and sat down. As class began, Blake pulled her usual book out of her bag and placed it on her lap. It took all of her self-control to hand it over to Yang instead of cracking it open and reading the next chapter. Yang opened it and started to read as Blake put her hand on her head and stared affectionately at her. She was initially only doing it because that was Yang's favorite thing to do in class, but as time went on, she would have found it hard to look away on her own. Yang looked too adorable trying to read for Blake to miss a second of it. The way her eyes slowly scanned over the page as her distracted expression made it clear she was too absorbed to notice the world around her was mesmerizing. Blake wondered if that's what she looked like when she was reading. If it was, she understood why Yang found it so fascinating.

After class they went to combat practice, went to get dinner, and came back to their room. The day ended up with Weiss dragging Ruby to the library to study as Blake and Yang cuddled together on her bed. "Who ended up winning?" Blake asked. Ruby had been spent the entire day arbitrarily adding and subtracting points from each of them so fast that Blake hadn't even bothered to keep up with the score. Yang shrugged.

"Nobody ever knows. The true beauty of Ruby Points is that you always lose track of them." Yang turned her head to meet Blake's eyes. "So how was a day in my shoes?"

Blake thought about it. Once she had gotten into it, it had actually been pretty fun. But it also wasn't something she would ever want to do again. "Exhausting. Being affectionate takes a lot out of you."

"True, but you're worth it."

"How about you?" Blake asked.

"Not bad. I actually enjoyed you being the aggressive one for once." Blake suddenly rolled over until she was on top of Yang. She grabbed Yang's arms and pinned her to the bed.

"I can still be plenty aggressive." Blake purred seductively. Yang's look of surprise faded into smoldering eyes and a slight smirk.

"Prove it."


	8. The Dread Pirate

**The Dread Pirate**

"How is it going between you guys?" Ruby asked her as they walked back to the house. Blake sighed.

"I don't know. Mostly it's just like it was at Beacon. I'm back with the woman I love."

"Mostly?"

"It's the arm. You know that she won't let me touch it? She's never explicit about it, but she's always standing on the other side of me, always walking far enough away that I can't brush against her, always too busy to hug me or hold me. And she won't talk about it. I don't know if she's ashamed of it or if she blames me for it or if she thinks it makes her look damaged. I'm not sure what to do."

"It's only been a few weeks. Give it some time. She loves you, Blake. She'll open up to you eventually." Ruby said. Blake nodded.

"I know. It hard sometimes, though. So often I wish we could go back to how it was like at Beacon." Blake said as they approached the door. She turned the handle, pulled it open, and stopped her movement dead at the sight before her eyes. The clean house they had left an hour ago was an absolute mess. The furniture was all pushed against the walls, and everything else was scattered randomly across the floor. Sitting in the center of the room, Jaune and Ren were tied together with tape over their mouths. Blake's hand shot towards Gambol Shroud, but she stopped short of drawing it when she saw Ren's expression. Jaune's eyes held a little panic, but Ren was as calm as always. Whatever was happening, they clearly weren't in any danger.

"Captain, there be two fair maidens approaching off the bow." Weiss said in a pirate accent. Blake looked over to the side to see a somehow even more ridiculous sight. Weiss was standing there, an eye patch covering her left eye and a small summoned Nevermore sitting on her shoulder. Yang was beside her, dressed in a rather impressive captain's hat. Instead of her hand, a hook was attached to the end of her mechanical arm. Blake had to admit that, as costumes go, they made rather convincing pirates.

"What is this?" Ruby asked, equally as stunned as Blake.

"Ye be entering the territory of the legendary White Dragon, the Scourge of the seas. Helmed by the Dread Pirate Xiao Long and her First Matey One-Eye Weiss." Yang said, also using her best pirate accent.

"Yarr." Weiss added. Blake almost couldn't believe it. It went to show how much Weiss had changed since Beacon. Before, Ruby would have been able to convince her to do this, but it would have taken days of pleading. Now, Yang could manage it in less than an hour.

"Very impressive costumes." Blake said.

"These not be costumes. These be our normal looks." Yang said, fake outrage filling her voice as she walked over towards them. Yang then did something that was even more shocking to her than this entire scenario. She held out both her hand and her hook, and Blake instinctively grabbed them. She had expected the metal hook to be cold, but it was as warm as the rest of Yang's body. Yang brought Blake's hands together, and then she nodded over her shoulder. Yang quickly moved her hands back, but before Blake could do the same a glyph appeared tying her hands together. Blake tamped down on her initial instinct to try to free herself and instead stood still. There was no harm in playing along with Yang and Weiss.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Ruby asked. She took a single step forward before a glyph appeared under her feet, and suddenly her legs were encased in ice. Weiss walked over towards Ruby as she stared unhappily at her frozen body. Blake could tell from her expression that Ruby was also more playing along than actually immobilized, but she also didn't get to be nearly as comfortable as Blake.

"Weiss, I'm cold!" Ruby said in her best pout. And it was a very, very effective one. Blake hadn't even done anything, and it almost made her feel terrible. It was enough to make Weiss break character.

"I'll make it up to you." Weiss whispered, quiet enough that only Ruby and Blake could hear it.

"You b-better." Ruby shivered as she crossed her arms.

As that had been happening, Yang had been circling around Blake. Blake looked at her, and the smoldering look in her eyes brought a blush to her face. She took a few more rotations before finally stopping behind Blake.

"First Matey, I'll be trusting ye to take care of the rest of the prisoners now. As for me, I'll be taking me prize back to me room. And then I'll be plundering the Bellabo-"

"No." Blake said firmly.

"Ahem. Then I'll be plundering the Bella-"

"Absolutely not."

Yang lowered her voice so only Blake could hear her. "Blake, I need this."

Blake sighed. Yang was an impossible, impossible woman. "Fine. One and only one time."

"Now, I'll be taking me prize back to me room, and I'll be plundering the Bellabooty tonight!" Yang boomed out. She scooped Blake up in her arms and started carrying her towards their room. The annoyance Blake felt melted away as soon as she looked up to see the look of pure glee on her girlfriend's face. Yang met her eyes with her goofy little smile, and Blake couldn't help but smile back. She closed her eyes and let Yang carry her back to their bed. Despite everything that had happened, despite what they had both lost, being in her arms felt the same as she remembered from all those months ago.


	9. Bee My Valentine

**Bee My Valentine**

"Have you decided what to get Blake for Valentine's Day?" Ruby asked from her bed. Yang shrugged.

"Not sure yet. Probably flowers and a card."

"Isn't that what you got her last year? Don't you think your second Valentine's Day deserves a little more?" Ruby had a good point there. Doing the same thing as last year would be boring, and that's the last thing Yang wanted in her relationship. She gave it a little thought, but she couldn't come up with anything good.

"True, but I've got nothing. Any suggestion?"

"The newest Ninjas of Love book came out last week. I'm sure she'd love that." Ruby said.

"I'm not getting Blake smut for Valentine's Day!" Yang replied, but she also made a mental note of the suggestion. It wasn't romantic enough for Valentine's Day, but it would be a perfect gift for Blake's birthday next month. Then a disturbing thought occurred to her. "Wait, why do you know that?"

Ruby gave her a way-too-satisfied-smirk. "Do you really want to know?"

"On second thought, no."

"Good choice. I have one other idea, if you really want to go all out this year."

"What is it?" Ruby told her, and Yang couldn't stop a smile. It was completely ridiculous and yet would be perfect. Yang got up and went to go downtown. She needed to get a few things setup before tomorrow.

/

After class got out on Valentine's Day, Yang quickly changed before going to their spot on campus, a secluded little out cove of trees mostly hidden out of the way. It was the site of many happy memories with Blake, and there was always a skip in her step as she walked there. Once she got there, she texted Blake to meet her and waited out of sight. It didn't take Blake long to get there, and when she showed up Yang burst into laughter. Blake was dressed up in a bee costume. She was wearing a striped black and yellow shirt with matching pants, and a small pair of wings was attached to the back. But the outfit wasn't the funny part. Blake actually looked quite hot in it. She was laughing because Blake's clothes were an exact match to Yang's own outfit. When Blake saw Yang, a small grin appeared on her face. "Ruby?" She asked.

"Yep. She told me I needed to go all out this year."

"Well, she told me that you did all the work last time, so it was my turn. And that you'd love this."

"She wasn't wrong." Yang replied, looking her over again. Yang knew she looked good in this, but Blake absolutely blew her away.

"I'm going to get her for this." Blake promised.

"Nah, don't do that. Clearly Ru-bee tricked us but may-bee that's not a bad thing. Both of us do make rather bee-utiful bees." Blake laughed, the laugh she reserved solely for Yang, and a thrill shot through her. No matter how long they were together, Yang knew that hearing that laugh would always make her feel on top of the world.

"That was awful! You're just lucky you're dating me. A lesser woman would dump you on the spot for those terrible puns."

"Nobody else could ever have captured my attention anyway. You're the only one for me, Blake. Now, let's go grab dinner."

"You don't want to change first?"

"I think it's kinda cute. It is Valentine's Day, after all. Let's make it a one-of-a-kind dinner."

"Sure, why not?" Blake asked with a shrug. She grabbed Yang's hand and started towards the city. Yang could barely hide her delight. Gorgeous, awesome, and willing to do anything with her. Blake really was the perfect woman.

"I love you, ba-bee." Yang said as they walked. Yang gave it a few seconds before clearing her throat and turning an expectant look on Blake. She got a stone cold look in reply.

"I'm not saying that back."

"No, but you're thinking it." Yang said with a smirk.

"I absolutely am not." Blake replied, but she smiled when she said it. Yang returned the smile, and they continued walking towards the rest of their date. They got a few odd looks for their costumes, but neither one noticed. They had each other, and that's all that really mattered to them.


	10. Dance of the Bumblebees

**Dance of the Bumblebees**

Yang hummed happily to herself as she finished putting on her dress. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been this excited to go out. It had been way too long since she'd gone dancing. Sure, this was a proper Atlas ball instead of a club, but she would take what she could get. Plus, a proper ball did have some perks. She couldn't wait to see her girlfriend rocking a fancy dress again. She could still close her eyes and see Blake at the Beacon dance again. That was a night of many firsts. The first time she'd realized her feelings for Blake followed by their first dance, their first discussion about their relationship, their first kiss.

"Hey babe, zip me up?" Yang heard from behind her. She turned around and was suddenly breathless. Blake was dressed in a sleek black dress that was curved in all the right places, but Yang expected that. What she hadn't expected was the short hair, and she was surprised just how much she loved it. It framed her face perfectly and drew the eyes to the cat ears that she'd tried so desperately to hide for years. It showed how much Blake had grown since they first met, and Yang couldn't be prouder of her.

"So, how do I look?" Blake asked. Most women would have asked that with a little uncertainty in their voice, but not her. Blake already knew the answer, and that's why Yang loved her.

"Amazing." Yang shot her a sly smile. "Good enough I'd rather zip that dress down than up." Blake laughed merrily. It was the laugh she reserved solely for when they were alone, and Yang got a small thrill every time she managed to get one.

"Without taking me to dinner first? What kinda girl do you think I am?" She asked playfully.

"My kinda girl." Yang walked around Blake and closed her dress, and then hooked her arm around Blake's before they walked out the door. They got into the waiting limousine to see Ruby and Weiss waiting for them. Ruby was looking uncomfortable in a white and red dress while Weiss sat beside her looking perfectly natural in a shimmering light blue gown.

"Took you long enough." Weiss said. "We're going to be late."

"You can't rush perfection." Yang replied. Weiss scowled at her.

"Then what's your excuse?" Yang stuck her tongue out at her, and Weiss sighed. "We need to make a good impression if we want to gain the support of the Atlas council. That's the mission tonight. Nothing else."

"Weiss," Ruby whined, "you promised we would dance together."

Weiss huffed. "I said one dance. We need to spend the rest of the time mingling." The statement might have been more convincing if the determination on Weiss' face didn't start to crack the instant Ruby looked unhappily at the floor. Yang barely stifled a laugh. Weiss still hadn't figured out how to resist the power of Ruby's puppy dog eyes. Her sister was going to be spending at least half the night wrapped in her girlfriend's arms.

As for Yang, she'd take the whole night in hers. She was planning on leaving all the convincing to Weiss. If she tried, she'd say the wrong thing at the wrong time and make matters worse. Atlesian nobles were just too stuffy and rigid for her to get along with. Better to have the best possible night out while letting her more qualified friend do the socializing.

The ride was long enough that Yang had plenty of time to take in the sights. Atlas wasn't quite like anywhere else she'd visited. It was objectively a gorgeous city, with beautiful buildings and an amazing view, but it also felt lifeless. There were almost never any people on the street, and the empty beauty gave the whole city a look like it was meant to be appreciated, not used. It was also hard to forget Mantle sitting below them. From what little she'd seen of the surface, it didn't have anything nearly as nice as the worst building up here. That kind of disparity was enough to make her suspicious. Everyone she'd interacted with seemed cordial enough, but she was on guard in case the other shoe dropped.

After half an hour the car finally pulled up in front of the hotel, and Yang pushed those thoughts out of her mind. She wasn't about to let dark thoughts interrupt her lovely evening out. They entered the building and walked down a hallway until they got to a set of ornate golden doors. It led to a massive ballroom filled with fancy statues, large paintings, and a bunch of other things that probably cost a fortune, but Yang ignored all of them. All that mattered to her was that they had the three necessary things for a party: music, a spacious dance floor, and a full array of food. Ruby sped straight towards the buffet table, practically dragging Weiss behind her, as Yang held out her hand to Blake in an open gesture. "Care for a dance, m'lady?" She asked formally. Blake beamed at her and grabbed her hand, and the two moved to the dance floor. Yang pulled Blake close and started dancing with her, attention focused totally on the beautiful sight in front of her. There weren't enough people there that she needed to worry about running into anyone.

The songs all started to blur together as they stayed dancing. Besides Ruby and Weiss joining them for the occasional song, they spent the entire time completely alone. Yang didn't give it a second thought until, once when Blake was spinning her around, she noticed a guy glaring at them from by the buffet table. She started looking around and realized that he was hardly the only one. There were at least a dozen people focused on them, whispering to a companion or openly staring in hostility, annoyance, or disgust. It took her a second of confusion to realize why, and she looked around to confirm it. The room contained about a hundred humans and a single Faunus, clearly visible with her now prominent ears. Her anger starting growing. They were judging her amazing girlfriend, disgusted simply by what she was. Someone needed to teach them a lesson, show them how very wrong they were.

Blake must have sensed the direction of Yang's thoughts. She had no doubt Blake noticed she wasn't welcome the instant they walked into the party, and she probably didn't mention it because she knew exactly how poorly Yang would react. "Yang, don't." She pleaded. "Their support for the war is more important than my feelings. It's not worth it." Yang lifted her hand up and cupped Blake's face.

"There's nobody quite like you, Blake Belladonna. You have such compassion, such selflessness. I wish I shared that." Her eyes turned hard. "But I can't change who I am." She let go of Blake and made a beeline for the center of the room. Once she got there, she raised her right arm and pointed it towards the ceiling. One of the few advantages her mechanical arm had over her old one was that nobody ever thought of taking it away, even when weapons weren't allowed. She extended the gun and fired an explosive round into the ceiling. It hit and cracked the marble there, and the sudden boom shocked the room into total silence.

"Listen up. That's my girlfriend Blake Belladonna. She's a Faunus, and she's not going anywhere. So, you're all going to treat her with respect and kindness, or we're going to have a problem. Any questions?" There was nothing for a few seconds, then one brave soul stepped forward. Before he could say anything, Yang channeled her rage and activated her semblance. Her hair burst into flames, the ground around her started shaking, all the lights suddenly flared up, the heat jumped about 10 degrees, and her eyes lit up in red fury. She locked her eyes onto the suddenly not so brave soul, who was struck silent by her display of power. Eventually he shook himself back to reality, turned, and stomped out the door. A handful of people followed him, but most people stayed. Satisfied, Yang moved back to Blake, grabbed her, and returned to their dance.

"That wasn't very smart." Blake said, but the accompanying smile softened her words. Blake would never have done it, but she was still grateful Yang did.

"Nope, but you're worth it."

"I love you, Yang."

"I love you too." Yang responded. She pulled Blake closer, and they danced the night away in each other's arms.


End file.
